BAS for Cloud Environments: Key Considerations

Cloud adoption is no longer optional—it’s the default. Enterprises in BFSI, healthcare, and manufacturing have migrated critical workloads to AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. While the cloud delivers scalability, agility, and cost efficiency, it also introduces unique cybersecurity challenges.

Cloud-specific threats—such as misconfigured storage buckets, over-privileged IAM roles, and insecure APIs—are now top entry points for attackers. And unlike static on-premises environments, cloud infrastructure changes rapidly, making point-in-time testing insufficient.

Aquila I’s Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) bridges this gap by delivering continuous, automated security validation designed specifically for cloud architectures.

Why Cloud Security is Different

1. Shared Responsibility Model Cloud providers secure the infrastructure, but you are responsible for your data, workloads, and configurations. Aquila I’s BAS ensures your security controls meet that responsibility.
   

2. Ephemeral Assets Containers, serverless functions, and temporary VMs can appear and disappear within minutes, making it challenging to maintain a consistent security posture.
   

3. Complex Access Management Cloud IAM roles and policies can be overly permissive, opening the door for privilege escalation attacks.
   

4. Multi-Cloud Complexity Many organizations operate across AWS, Azure, and GCP simultaneously, creating a larger, more complex attack surface.
   

How Aquila I’s BAS Secures the Cloud

Testing Identity and Access Management (IAM)

Simulates red team privilege escalation tactics against IAM configurations to ensure there are no exploitable weaknesses.

Validating Cloud Email Security

Email remains a primary attack vector. BAS tests secure email gateways integrated with cloud email services like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.

Endpoint Verification in Virtual Machines

Cloud-hosted instances are included in endpoint verification to confirm EDR coverage, correct logging, and real-time alerting.

Mapping to MITRE ATT&CK Framework

All cloud simulations are mapped to MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques for visibility into which adversary behaviors can be detected and stopped.

Industry Example – SaaS Provider

A SaaS provider runs weekly BAS scenarios simulating AWS S3 misconfigurations. A simulation reveals that a storage bucket containing sensitive logs had public read access due to a deployment script error. The issue is fixed within hours—preventing a potential data breach.

Implementation Best Practices

• Start with High-Risk Services – Test cloud storage, IAM policies, and external APIs first.

• Automate in CI/CD Pipelines – Run BAS after each code or infrastructure change to catch misconfigurations early.

• Integrate Alerts into SOC Tools – Treat BAS findings with the same urgency as real-world incidents.

• Combine with Red Teaming – Use BAS findings to guide targeted red team assessments in cloud environments.
  

Conclusion

Cloud environments are dynamic, complex, and fast-changing. Without continuous testing, misconfigurations and privilege gaps can quickly turn into serious breaches.

Aquila I’s BAS ensures your defenses keep pace—running continuous breach and attack simulations across cloud workloads, endpoints, and email security controls to close detection gaps before attackers exploit them.

Protect your cloud before attackers exploit its weaknesses. Book a Live Cloud BAS Demo with Aquila I and see how we can help you find and fix misconfigurations before they become incidents.